Wheat falls as much as 2% to hit near one-week low

U.S. wheat futures fell as much as 2% on Wednesday as fears eased about the potential for
widespread crop damage after recent heavy rains, pushing prices to a near one-week low. 
    
Corn fell nearly 1.5%, and soybeans dipped 0.6%. 
    
Wheat later pared some of its losses after a report showed that crop damage was not as bad as thought, with the most active
wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade down 0.8 percent at $5.03 a bushel by 0544 GMT. It earlier hit a session
low of $4.96-3/4 a bushel, the lowest since May 30. 
    
In the previous session, wheat lost 2.4 percent. 

"The market was worried about crop damage after the recent heavy rains but the U.S. Department of Agriculture crop report
showed an improvement in the quality," said Angus Thornton, a commodities analyst with Profarmer. 
    
The USDA said 64% of U.S. winter wheat was in good-to-excellent condition, up from 61% last week and ahead of
expectations of 59%. 
    
The most active corn futures were down 0.5% at $4.23-1/4 a bushel after closing up 0.2% on Tuesday. 
    
Despite the fall, analysts said corn remains underpinned by concerns over slow planting in the United States. 
    
The USDA said in a report after the market close on Monday that U.S. corn planting was 67% complete, below market
expectations of 71% and well below the average pace of 96% at this time of year. 
    
The most active soybean futures were down 0.1 percent at $8.80-3/4 a bushel, having closed up 0.3 percent on Tuesday.
    
The USDA said U.S. soybean planting was 39% complete, below market expectations of 42% and significantly below the average
pace of 79%.
        
 Grains prices at  0544 GMT
 Contract      Last  Change  Pct chg  Two-day chg   MA 30  RSI
 CBOT wheat  503.00   -4.25   -0.84%       -3.22%  462.43   58
 CBOT corn   423.25   -2.00   -0.47%       -0.24%  383.74   68
 CBOT soy    880.75   -1.00   -0.11%       +0.20%  845.70   66
 CBOT rice    11.66  -$0.03   -0.21%       -0.34%  $11.08   69
 WTI crude    52.92  -$0.56   -1.05%       -0.62%  $60.68   15
 Currencies                                                   
 Euro/dlr    $1.126  $0.001   +0.09%       +0.19%             
 USD/AUD     0.6998   0.001   +0.11%       +0.32%             
 Most active contracts
 Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per
 hundredweight
 RSI 14, exponential
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Tom Hogue)